Kings Arms, Greenwich, SE10

There’s a lot of historical pubs in Greenwich with one or two claiming to date back to when the first Maritime pensioners moved into the newly built Naval Hospital. This isn’t one of those, being a late Victorian build from 1891 as mentioned below. The pub is proud of its refurbished interior and although it is very comfortable and modern, sadly any sense of history has long since disappeared. But I tend to look this one up for lunch as, although you can see the Cutty Sark from its front door, it’s far enough away from the tourist trail to not get overrun by them, unlike the pubs closer to the river, and it has a decent and not outrageously priced food menu. It is run by Green King though, so you have to set your expectations on the ale front and yesterday only three of the six pumps were in operation with Abbott, IPA and a house badged ale which I went for and was another uninspiring bitter from the Green King stable. A pint of this and a half of a Fruity Tiny Rebel craft brew from the keg taps was £9.25 and the service levels were good

Official site of Kings Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Kings Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

A nice exterior and a good bar, but the rest of the place has been rather buggered about with, from the glass entrance doors to the mismatched interior. There is rear room wioth slightly more relaxed furniture and a patio =garden out the back. Still a Greene King house with just IPA and Old Speckled Hen on pump plus Yardbird promised (Wot no Abbot?). Nothing special.

This is a Greene King house, but as well as the predictable IPA, they also had on GK London Gold, plus Timothy Taylor Landlord, Skinner's Betty Stogs, and Sadlers One Stop Hop (£2.20 a half) which although some sort of GK collaboration was actually OK. Fairly extensive menus are attached to clipboards with all kinds of fancy stuff available, including slider boards, brioche buns, falafel salad, and good old chimichurri even got a mention. Back down to earth, the steak and Old Speckled Hen pie is £10.95, and the burger costs £10.45 - but it does come with Ayrshire dried cured bacon, smoked cheddar, smoked mayonnaise(?), tomato relish, and rosemary salted fries. Not just any old burger then. The room is mainly furnished with tall tables/tall stools at the front, with normal tables and chairs at the back. The decor is quite elegant, although fairly minimalist, and is perhaps understandably nautical themed. At the back is a very nice garden, with a couple of mature robinia pseudo acacia trees, and several olive trees in terracotta pots. Even the garden furniture is modern and diverse (not just the standard picnic tables here), with a row of chunky tall tables with tall benches on the left, some weatherproof sofas and armchairs with low tables, and of course a few normal tables and chairs. This is quite a nice pub as long as you are OK with modernist decor and furnishings. I was given a warm welcome in here (and offered a taster), and the ale choice is excellent by Greene King standards.